I Miss You
by quillinkparchment
Summary: Luke returns to Camp Half-Blood to visit Thalia and explains why he has to poison her pine. This happens right before The Sea of Monsters; slightly Luke/Thalia. One-shot.


He strolled up the hill, keeping close to the trees so that he wouldn't be spotted by anyone. The sky was a blazing blue, and the sun was all but covered by the fluffy white clouds. Birds, hidden in the trees, were singing sweetly. Now that he was at the crest, he had a panoramic view of Camp Half-Blood, and it was a vision to behold. His heart ached; he would never set foot in there again, at least, not as a welcomed camper. But the golden age was past, when he was content with slaying monsters during capture the flag, when he was willing, even eager (_shame_ on him), to do the gods' bidding.

_A better age approaches, and I cannot look back,_ he told himself. He turned away, sweeping a lock of blonde hair out of his eyes. It was getting far too long; he was going to have to cut it soon. No one would take him seriously if he had hair covering half his face, like those ridiculous boy band singers. Never mind that he used to want to be one. No, if he wanted to lead an army, he would have to look the part of a commander. But before the haircut, there was something else he had to do…

"Thalia," he said, resting a palm lightly on the pine tree's weathered bark. There was a slight tingle in his hand. He remembered the bluest eyes, framed by dark spiky hair. He could almost hear her laughter in the breeze that rustled the leaves.

Almost.

"I miss you," he said quietly. "How have you been? I've been okay..." He trailed off. There was so much to say, yet he was uncertain how to say it. He checked to see if there was anyone from the camp lurking about. There was no one in sight, and he sat down, his back against the tree. It was easier to talk without having to look her (or rather, the tree) in the face (or bark).

"There's something I need to tell you," he said. "Remember last time, I said that I was going to have to leave camp. I've – I've joined Kronos, Thalia." The breeze died down, and branches of the pine stopped rustling, leaving behind a silence that was forbidding, disapproving. "We used to complain about our parents all the time, d'you recall?" he continued, suddenly feeling a need to justify himself. "Me about Hermes and you about Zeus. They never did care about us, they left us to fend for ourselves – and your father – your father could've _saved_ you, Thalia, could've sent a lightning bolt down to fry those monsters, but he chose to preserve you as a pine tree instead." He laughed, and even to himself it sounded bitter. "Live children were always too troublesome for the gods.

"We're going to rise against them," he said, with a small smile. "Kronos has given me an army to train, and when I'm done with them, the gods won't know what's hit them. We'll give them everything they've got coming to them.

"And I'm going to try to bring you back, Thalia," he said, twisting around. The tree was still, unmoving. "I'm going to help bring your spirit out of the tree, with the help of those campers. And when that happens, I _know_ you'll be on my side. You and me, and Annabeth, when you bring her to her senses, talk her into joining us. You're always able to make both of us listen to you. We will all be together again, and we'll never have to leave each other, the way you had to leave us that night. Kronos will see to that."

He turned back around to lean against the tree again. "But before that –"

His voice caught in his throat, and he had to take a deep breath before continuing. "Before that, I have to do something. I'm sorry, Thalia, I don't want to do this, but it's the only way I can bring you back. The campers won't do it any other way."

He got up, sticking his hands in his pockets and fiddling with the bottle of elder python venom in his pocket.

"This will hurt, just a little, but you will be all right, I promise," he said, not sure if he was promising Thalia or himself. He took out a large nail from his pocket and dipped it into the bottle of venom. It took him all the courage he had to do the next step: he levitated the out of the bottle and impaled it into the trunk. He half expected a terrible scream to emanate from the trunk, but there was nothing. The pine looked as healthy as ever, which seemed a cruel irony – just a thin layer of venom had coated the nail, but it was enough to poison the tree. Thalia's tree would suffer the ill effects soon, and then some half-bloods would be sent to fetch the fleece. Kronos would be restored, and Thalia would be back again.

He stood back, capping the bottle of poison and slipping it back into his pocket.

"We will be together someday, you and I, and Annabeth," he said with so much conviction that he almost believed himself.

No. He did believe it. They would be reunited, the three of them, and they would fight the useless Olympian gods, side by side, shield to shield.

He gave Thalia's tree one last look, and then walked down the hill, as quietly as he had come.

_Author's note: I would love to know what you guys thought about this, so please give me some feedback yes? :D Also, the part where Luke uses telekinesis? If you read The Sea of Monsters, when Percy, Annabeth and Tyson encounter Luke aboard the _Princess Andromeda,_ Luke "[waves] a hand and three dining chairs [scoot] themselves into the centre of the room". So I guess he has telekinetic abilities of some sort._

_I technically shouldn't be writing anything at this point… I'm midway through my end-of-semester examinations, and I should be studying, but this idea struck me and I just had to write it down. I _know _I swore off fanfiction, but I do make an exception for stuff that I'm crazy about._

_Anyway, a little Luke/Thalia action here! I thought this pairing was so sad, because obviously the two had a thing going on, at least until Luke turned so evil and Thalia became a Hunter. But I always thought that Luke meant for everything to turn out for the best, especially after reading the last book and he did a hundred-and-eighty and died a hero. Okay oh gosh this is such a long author's note I should probably end here._


End file.
